Kaze no Kisu
by JediHanyou
Summary: Begins with a typical fight... then comes a typical interruption... but a very UN-typical ending awaits. If you want to know more than that ahead of time, you'll have to translate the title - though I suggest you don't .


"Kaze no Kisu"

_Sometime between the events at Mt. Hakurei and the opening of the path to the Netherworld…_

"Get him, Lord Sesshomaru! Teach that half-breed a lesson!"

"Be careful, my lord! Eek!" Rin ducked behind Ah-Un, avoiding the various-sized chunks of rock and wood careening about with every strike of the mighty sword Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru had not yet even been pressed enough to draw his own double-edged sword Tokijin. Inuyasha was more than exasperated with his inability to slice anything more than the ground, trees, and his fleet-footed elder brother's afterimage. "Dammit! Stand still and die, already!" he growled as his blade sunk into the soil… again.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome sighed and slumped behind a tree. "Why do you have to fight him every time we happen to bump into each other? You're both after Naraku, it's bound to happen!"

Still watching the battle, the demon slayer Sango patted her left shoulder consolingly while Shippou, perched on her right, shook his head sadly. _He's an idiot… a total idiot,_ thought the young _kitsune_. Kilala mewed her agreement from Sango's shoulder.

The monk Miroku carefully studied the low position of the sun. _Barely an hour til dusk,_ he decided. _These fights have been getting longer and longer – a good sign that Inuyasha is getting stronger – but if this goes on any longer, we'll be hiking in the dark._

Little did the monk know that the approaching nightfall was the least of their concerns…

XXXXX

The demoness Kagura surveyed the battle from above and smiled. _Excellent… luring them both here with traces of Naraku's scent worked beautifully. Now for the next phase of the plan; I hope Kanna has done her part…_

Leaving the siblings to continue their futile fight, she soared off to a nearby village of humans.

XXXXX

_Forty minutes later…_

"Inuyasha, will you _please _cut it out already? I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I want a _bath_!" Kagome stamped her foot for emphasis.

Inuyasha, absorbed in the battle and greatly fatigued, actually didn't hear her at all despite his superior auditory reception. Of course, Kagome simply thought he was ignoring her… and Kagome did _not_ like being ignored.

Sesshomaru, on the other hand, perceived the ire on the girl's face and in her voice. "Little brother, will you not answer your human?" he mocked, as straight-faced as ever. "She calls you." He dodged another wild slash by a hair's breadth.

Gasping for breath, Inuyasha threw back the best retort his battle-fogged mind could come up with: "Shut up!"

He hacked at his brother's slightly blurred form again – and missed again. _Dammit, I'm getting tired! If he didn't have Tensaiga, I could just blast him away with my Wind Scar. He doesn't ever use his demonic aura against me, so there's no way to use my Backlash Wave… man, I gotta learn some new moves!_

The two brothers slid to stops at a relatively safe distance – neither could reach the other within a step. Inuyasha hefted the Tetsusaiga once more, Sesshomaru finally put his hand to the hilt of Tokijin – and Kagome snapped.

"That's IT! SIT, BOY!"

*WHOMP*

"_Ow_…" The Tetsusaiga's point dug into the ground. Having left Inuyasha's grip, it transformed back into a rusty, dinged-up _katana_.

As Kagome had rightly predicted, Sesshomaru was not the least bit interested in delivering a lethal blow to his downed sibling – whether by virtue of the blood they shared, or his pride's refusal to let him accept any assistance in defeating any enemy, he let his sword be, and turned to leave.

Knowing Kagome was in no mental state to say what must be said, Miroku stepped in. "My apologies, Lord Sesshomaru. We're trying to teach him to ask favors politely, but…"

"You can't teach an _old dog_ new tricks," Shippou muttered.

"Shippou!" Sango lightly bopped his head. "Can it, he's a dog demon, too!"

"_Ulp_…"

Sesshomaru turned his back to depart. "Cool his hot head, and keep him out of my way. Come, Rin."

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru!" The girl darted from cover, but a sudden gust of wind prevented her from reaching her lord's side.

Quick as lightning, Sesshomaru stood above her, Tokijin naked in his grasp. But the expected strike – the Dance of Blades – did not decend.

Instead, Kagura alighted on the ground at the far, downwind end of the newly-created clearing, her fan open but not poised to strike. "Be at ease, Sesshomaru. I have not come to kidnap your human again. My business is with another today."

"Where is Naraku?"

Kagura turned her head slightly left and looked up. "I don't know." Her fan twitched, and moving shadows appeared at the edge of the clearing. _Just a little closer… keep him distracted…_

"Dammit, Kagome, why'd you stop me?" Inuyasha was finally prying himself off the ground. "I was about to…"

*WHAP*

The priestess slapped his back – none too gently – and he collapsed again. "You were about to launch another futile attack when you were already worn out." She bent down to his face and held up an ear. "You can thank me later, when you're done being a JERK!"

Ignoring the shenanigans behind him, Sesshomaru slipped Tokijin back into his belt. "If you will not answer, I have no further business here." He turned to leave once more.

_Now!_ Kagura swung her fan, Tokijin flashed forth again – and from the woods behind them all, a horde of silent humanoid forms poured forth.

"Sango, Kagome!" Miroku's staff spun, deflecting an assortment of projectiles directed at the cluster of travelers. Kilala burst into flame, bristled, and growled.

Sango was poised to throw her _Hiraikotsu_, but Kagome held her arm. "They're humans… living humans!"

"But…"

"No souls, Sango!" Miroku explained. "She must have had Kanna suck out their souls."

"Again?"

"Seriously?"

"I'm afraid so," the monk replied. "Sango, can you hold the fort here? I'll go look for Kanna."

"You got it."

"Let's go, Kilala!" The monk jumped on the great cat's back, and they were off.

Shippou rummaged in his shirt for something useful. _Simple illusions won't work on soulless shells – there's no conscious mind there to trick! Maybe…_ he pulled out a string of firecrackers.

"Nothing lethal, Shippou," Kagome reminded him as she splashed water on Inuyasha's face to wake him.

"Right…"

Inuyasha spluttered and sat up. "What the…"

"Kagura."

"Soulless humans."

"Really?" Inuyasha groaned, shook his head, and stumbled to his feet. He picked up and sheathed the Tetsusaiga. "Stay back, Kagome."

Kagome smiled ever-so-slightly. _Even when I'm mad at him, and he's mad at me… he'll always protect me._ The slight smile turned to a slight frown. _I wish he'd do more than just that, though…_

She suddenly found her attention drawn to Kagura, who was… just standing there. "What's _she_ waiting for?" she muttered.

Shippou watched as Inuyasha waded into the fray alongside Sango, exhibiting his "unique" fighting style. _Kagome called this "wailing on them"… he'll have to teach me how to do it someday._

From a distance, Sesshomaru watched with mild disinterest.

"Aren't you going to help them, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked.

"Foolish mortal!" Jaken snapped. "That half-breed's petty concerns are of no interest to the great Lord Sesshomaru! Not that you, a human, would understa - _mph_".

Sesshomaru's foot squished his retainer's face into the ground. "Be silent, Jaken."

XXXXX

"Come on, show yourself…" _Why does she have to be so hard to find? No scent, no demonic presence…_

A ghostly glow beneath a copse of blossoming cherry trees signaled Kanna's location. Kilala landed, and Miroku dismounted. The silver-haired girl stood at the base of a large tree, holding her ubiquitous mirror. The mirror emitted a soft glow, an indicator of the human souls trapped within.

"Release them, Kanna." The tip of Miroku's outstretched staff became the midpoint of a straight line from his eyes to hers. As the rings stilled, their jangling faded into pure silence.

"I will not," she softly replied.

"Then I must…" _Wait. She _will_ not? She's never said anything like that before. Something's off here._

"Why will you not release them?"

"It is not yet the right time."

"So you are stalling."

"Yes."

"And you're a distraction?"

"Yes."

_Well, she's being rather cooperative… and chatty. _"What is Naraku scheming this time?"

"Naraku doesn't know."

Miroku blinked, taken aback. "… Say _what_?" He suddenly noticed the eerie silence. _No buzzing… no _saimyosho_… and there weren't any with Kagura, either…_

"What about Hakudoushi?"

"He's healing. He doesn't know."

"Then… what… who is directing Kagura?"

"Kagura."

"Yes, Kagura."

Kanna nodded. "Yes, Kagura."

Miroku scratched his head. "… Are you mocking me?" _I didn't take her for that kind… except for the creepiness…_

If Kanna could have sighed, she would have. "No. _Kagura_ is directing Kagura."

"… Oh. Well, I feel stupid. Wait…" _She attacked us of her own accord… what would she stand to gain from doing such a thing?_

XXXXX

_Almost there…_ It was proving somewhat difficult for Kagura to accurately direct her human puppets in their Dance of the Dead while keeping an eye on Sesshomaru as well. _Never know what he'll do… ah! Almost there…_

Her puppets had finally succeeded in their mission. The demon slayer had been pressed back towards that wretched priestess and her little fox, while Inuyasha had been backed away from the rest. _It's time to strike!_

"Dance of the Dragon!" A summoned whirlwind roared to life…

XXXXX

Miroku sat cross-legged in front of Kanna, perplexed. The porcelain-featured girl stared blankly at the twilit sky.

"OK… Kagura's doing this because she wants to… is she trying to impress Naraku? To win his favor? No… I don't think she's the bowing-and-scraping type of subordinate." _Come to think of it, _none_ of his incarnations have seemed all that deferential to Naraku… not Kagura, not Goshinki, Juromaru, Kageromaru… even Hakudoushi seems to have a mind of his own. But this girl…_

"Kanna… why are _you_ helping Kagura?"

"…You do not already know?"

"… Not really, no."

"I thought you, of all people, would understand."

"Why me?"

"Because you are also of the void."

"The void…" Miroku stared at his right palm, then clenched it. "You could say that. To have a void within oneself, always devouring, never satisfied… is quite a burden."

"My void does not devour… it can never be filled. That is why."

"Why what?"

The girl stared silently.

"Ah… that's why you're helping Kagura."

"Yes. Her void can be filled."

"How? What is her void?" _If it's _that_, I might consider it… she _is_ fairly attractive…_

"My sister wants…"

XXXXX

Normally, when a whirlwind sped across the ground towards Inuyasha, it signaled the arrival of a certain wolf-demon. This time, however, the cyclone was not the effect of a demon's speed, but rather the _cause_. Propelled by the extra wind beneath her feather, Kagura zoomed across the clearing towards her quarry.

"Watch out!" Sango called out a warning as her giant boomerang swept aside a dozen villagers – who were quickly replaced by an equal amount.

Kagome froze in fear, watching helplessly as the wind sorceress bore down on Inuyasha, who was nearly buried beneath a mound of bodies. Only his face and a few patches of red cloth were showing.

Kagura smiled coldly and snuck a glance at Sesshomaru. _Good… it's time. _The wind thrusting her forward dissipated, and she landed lightly on her feet before the helpless half-demon.

He struggled and squirmed to get free. "When I get out of here, Kagura, I swear, I'm going to fry you extra-crispy with my _Kaze no Kizu_*… what's so funny?"

The faintest hint of a genuine smile crept across Kagura's face as she gently cupped his chin in her hand. "You can call this… my _Kaze no Kisu…_"

XXXXX

Kilala landed and slid to a stop. Miroku surveyed the scene. Nobody and nothing was moving, but every face wore a different expression. Sesshomaru's right eyebrow was ever-so-slightly raised (otherwise, his face looked the same as ever), but his imp retainer was clearly shocked, judging by his bulging eyes – or was he always like that? The human girl standing with them just looked baffled. Sango's mouth gaped wide open… Shippou looked disgusted… and Kagome looked like she couldn't decide whether to scream in horror or burst into tears.

And Inuyasha…

Miroku stifled the tremendous laugh he knew would burst loose if he let it. _I don't believe it… I really don't believe it!_

Kagura's red lips, having lingered long enough to make her point clear – to some of the many observers, at least – finally parted from Inuyasha's. The _hanyou_ was too shocked even to splutter.

The wind sorceress tugged a feather from her bun. With a last meaningful glance towards the intended recipient of her message, she flew into the air.

Even before she had quite vanished from view, the clearing was filled with glowing, streaming orbs – the souls of the villagers that Kanna had released, just as she had promised Miroku.

As the souls re-entered their earthly residences, Sesshomaru quietly took his leave.

"Wait, my lord! Your humble servant comes!"

"Come on, Ah-Un. Let's find something to eat!"

Miroku carefully approached Inuyasha. Finding him still stunned, the monk began deftly dragging the barely-breathing bodies off of him. _I've got to keep it together… got to keep it together… must… not… laugh…_

Sango carefully stepped over and around the humans that littered the ground, making her way to Kagome. "Hey, are you OK?"

"I'm going to kill him. I thought she was going to, but now _I'm _going to…"

"Whoa, wait a – "  
>"INUYASHA!"<p>

"Eh?"

"SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

As the dust settled, Miroku wondered when, exactly, he should tell Kagome that the whole incident was a setup – all so a certain sorceress could make a certain full-blooded dog-demon maybe just a wee bit jealous. Maybe…

Author's Notes:

*_Kaze no Kizu_ is the original Japanese for Inuyasha's beloved attack, the Wind Scar. _Kaze_ = Wind, _Kizu_ = scar/wound.

_Kaze no Kisu_, of course, uses an English loan-word (which Kagura would probably not have known, unless she heard Kagome use it… unlikely…) to make the Wind Kiss… which, of course, would only be fitting for one particular character.

I actually thought of this literary joke a while back, but didn't know how to work it into a story at the time. Not to mention that I was working on a very large, very complex storyline that did not – and will not – include Kagura at all. Thus, years passed until today, when the idea sprang from my mind to the page fully formed, like Athena from the head of Zeus. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
